Beta Testing May 15-28

wifeinraleigh28 · May 2016

@elisam511 Yeah, the success rate for IUI is crappy. There hasn't been a single successful IUI in May on these boards yet. It makes me question the 10-15% success rate! I've seen successes in other months though. Enjoy your TI on the plane

WishingforLuck · May 2016

@thucks glad your staying positive and staying on your meds for the beta on Tuesday. GL and FX.

@elisam511 FX and GL

kjplaza · May 2016

FX and GL to everyone who's BETA's are coming up.

*BFP Mentioned*

Official BETA results today 243

wifeinraleigh28 · May 2016

Congrats @kjplaza!!!

wifeinraleigh28 · May 2016

Do we have results from @Jdonegan, @dadezbombz, or @thucks? GL to our final 3 May beta testers!!

Jdonegan · June 2016

**BFP Mentioned**

Hi all, I was away for work the last several days and unable to check in but I got my BFP on Sunday! Beta #1 was 100 and #2 was 298! Congrats to all those that also go BFPs!

wifeinraleigh28 · June 2016

Congrats @Jdonegan!!! HH9M

susykat77 · June 2016

@Jdonegan Congrats!!! Woohoo!!!!

stef7384 · June 2016

@Jdonegan what day past transfer did you get your BFP? Or did you do IUI? Just curious!

Jdonegan · June 2016

@stef7384 I got a positve HPT 9dp5dt and I had the beta 3 days after that.

WishingforLuck · June 2016

@kjplaza congrats!

@Jdonegan congrats!

thucks · June 2016

My Beta was a <1 so a BFN. I have been given new dates to choose from for another FET as long as insurance Ok's it but I think we only have 1 left. Just waiting on AF now so I can get started again. Big-o bummer.

fivetimesnoluck · June 2016

@thucks I am sorry! That sucks. Glad you have a plan. Hope you can indulge in something fun or bad for you this weekend. xo

WishingforLuck · June 2016

@thucks sorry to hear that but I'm glad you're moving forward with the next cycle. FX and GL

Monica54321 · June 2016

Figured I should put out a 'wrap-up' post with the final results table and data.

TI - 0 BFPs of 7 attempts (0% success)
IUI - 0 BFPs of 8 attempts (0% success)
IVF/FET - 9 BFPs of 14 attempts (64% success)

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/5c/qnwjyyaz8a5q.jpg

wifeinraleigh28 · June 2016

Heh, thanks for the summary post @Monica54321! Really validates my decision to move on to IVF now!!

Monica54321 · June 2016

@wifeinraleigh28 - Me too! I'm ready for the next part of the journey.

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

Agreed @wifeinraleigh28 and @Monica54321!!! Cannot wait for my IVF consult on Friday

We did have a brief scare where the financial dept at our clinic said that they knew our insurance very well and we needed to have 3 IUI's before IVF, and thankfully she was nice and checked that again and NOPE, no 3 requirement so we are cleared 100% to go forward now! IF this iui doesnt work! We had a crappy sample so Im pretty confident well be moving into IVF very soon!

Monica54321 · June 2016

@ADRIANAC1982 - I'm REALLY hoping I don't have to have a 3rd IUI before my insurance will approve IVF... I should call & check. If they do, maybe my doctor could convince them otherwise since he recommended not doing any more IUIs based on how my body was reacting to them. It was nice just doing TI this cycle with my same letrozole dosage. It let me narrow down that it was, in fact, the IUI itself that was causing my severe post-IUI pain and not just 'extra strong' ovulation due to the medication because I had NO symptoms anywhere near like I did with the 2 IUIs this cycle.

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

@Monica54321 I have BCBS of MA, which is amazing but they require authorization before every little thing!

I would definitely check with the clinic though! Be proactive and have it done before your consult for sure!

Here is a little excerpt about what my clinic sent me this morning regarding IVF coverage:

"I did heard back from the case management department with BCBS of MASS and they’ve confirmed BCBS of Mass did change their requirements. In the past, BCBS of MASS required multiple rounds of failed IUI treatment before proceeding with IVF. They now require women under 35 to have attempted pregnancy for 12 months and women 35 and older to have attempted pregnancy for 6 months. Dr. Sipe’s notes indicate you’ve been attempting pregnancy for well over that, based on his notes I expect IVF treatment will be approved. When you have your IVF consultation with Dr. Sipe he will mention a procedure called ICSI and will explain if he recommends the service for you. BCBS of Mass will authorization ICSI if there is a male factor issue and we have 2 or more semen analysis on file documenting the issue. Assisted Hatching is a procedure that is only approved by BCBS OF MASS with 3 or more failures to implant after an embryo transfer is completed. FCI will honor the reduced insurance rate of $1750 for the ICSI and $300 for the assisted hatching, if recommended by Dr. Sipe and you agree to have procedures completed. FCI will ask for credit card information to proceed with these services. BCBS states IVF is a covered service payable at 100% after you’ve met your $2000 deductible. They show you’ve met your deductible for the year, a $20 MD co-pay does apply. The following services are optional and aren’t covered by insurance, embryo freezing = $1200, annual storage is $500, sperm freezing = $500, annual storage is $500, Biopsy of embryos for Genetic testing = $2200, PGD/PGS testing = payable to the genetic lab selected, you must contact them directly to verify cost."

wifeinraleigh28 · June 2016

I didn't know you just had your 2nd IUI @ADRIANAC1982, FX for you that you're successful this time!

@Monica54321 FX you won't have to do a 3rd IUI before IVF. That was awful what you had to go through

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

@wifeinraleigh28 Yup, this past Monday!! I snuck it in before the IVF consult! Ya know to keep busy

~

and thank you, Im not to positive for this one, last time we have 68mil or so and 96% motility post wash and it didnt work! This time because we used the frozen sample we only had 7.9mil and 76% motility post wash so a huge difference in my eyes! But im glad we got rid of that crappy sample now instead of using it later! The nurse did do things a little differently this time and Im eating my pineapple so well see

wifeinraleigh28 · June 2016

You really never know @ADRIANAC1982, there seems to be no rhyme or reason when it comes to IUI success that I've witnessed on these boards! I hope you are successful. *hugs*

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

Thank you @wifeinraleigh28 It def felt different this time around, the made me keep a full bladder, and up until today I have felt god awful I could barely walk! Thank god today is better!

Luckily for me work is super busy so im just hoping this 2ww flies by

elisam511 · June 2016

@Monica54321 tell me more about how you felt after the IUI... For me, I did letrozole 7.5 mg from CD3-11, + Ovidrell. On the day of my first IUI I was SO TIRED and crampy all evening.... BFN. This month we are not doing IUI and I again took 7.5 mg from CD3-11, but no trigger shot, and I know I ovulated, but did not feel as terrible as I did after the IUI.

In my personal opinion, the actual IUI procedure was not bad at all - it felt like a normal pap. Why was I so tired afterward that evening?

What was your experience in each of the IUI's you did?

elisam511 · June 2016

@wifeinraleigh28 @ADRIANAC1982 @monica54321 I only did 1 IUI, and my RE had suggested we do 3 before considering IVF. Why do you think they say that? In most cases it's financial reasons. Most people would rather pay 2k a pop for IUI and just hope it works, rather than dive right into IVF at $10k (My insurance doesn't cover ANYTHING - so good thing I saved up money giving piano lessons this year!) But percentages and success rates show that IVF is much better. Why do you think most people don't go RIGHT INTO it? (Other than for financial reasons.)

This stems from the same thought from when we first started TTC... my obgyn told me that if we wanted to go straight to a fertiility clinic, we could! They didn't "make us wait" the full year before getting help from a RE. Which is great....

So now I'm wondering, why do you think the RE wants us to do 3 IUI's before going into IVF?

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

@elisam511 I cant be sure but most of the time I believe its insurance companies. Many require that the individual do 3 before covering IVF. They say 3, because studies show you are not likely to get pregnant via-IUI if it hasnt worked after 3 tries.

Monica54321 · June 2016

@elisam511 - I had very severe cramping pain, that landed me both at urgent care & the hospital starting the day after my IUIs (when the pain was the worst) and lasted for about a week each time (gradually getting better as the week went on). RE's explanation was that it could be 'extra strong' ovulation pain combined with an allergy to some of the components in DH's semen that didn't get totally 'washed' out during the sample prep. I had no issues this month, taking the same dosage of meds, so I think we can rule out the 'extra strong' ovulation.

Additionally - they had a lot of difficulty placing the catheter for the IUI both times... first time they had to use a tenaculum to hold my cervix in place (OUCH) and a metal sound (looks like a rod) to clear a path through my cervix, up to the top of my uterus (double OUCH) and needed ultrasound to assistance. Second time was better (no tenaculum or sound) but still needed ultrasound and was still what I would consider "VERY" painful. Lots of tears were shed during the procedure both times.

My IUI costs were about $400 for each attempt (for the oral medicine, semen prep, & insemination). My RE doesn't do any monitoring for oral meds, so that brings the cost down significantly. Based on the packet we got for IVF from our RE, the cost of 1 complete cycle was about $18k (including medicine, monitoring, egg retrieval, and fresh transfer). My RE doesn't even recommend people do IUIs with injectables because of the cost, he advises that, unless you're morally opposed to IVF for some reason, trying IUI with oral medications for up to 3 cyles, then moving straight to IVF, as being the more cost effective solution, than doing IUI with injectables.

If I were paying $2k per IUI and had insurance lifetime maximums to contend with, I think I would go to IVF as soon as possible.

PerraSucia · June 2016

omg ignore me i'm in the wrong dates.

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

@wifeinraleigh28 I saw somewhere you posted about your IVF protocal, but I cant find it so I figured id post in here, what exactly is ICSI?

caseyw8784 · June 2016

@ADRIANAC1982 - ICSI is when they take 1 sperm and inject it directly into 1 egg, instead of just putting all the sperm and eggs together in a petri dish and let them fertilize "naturally." this is done often when there is an MFI factor, but often cause some doctors think it gives a better fertilization success rate. it's also a requirement if you are doing PGD testing (not sure if it's required for PGS, though...) cause they say that the DNA from "other sperm" can contaminate the biopsy sample...

ADRIANAC1982 · June 2016

Thank you @caseyw8784 I feel like I learn something new everyday

wifeinraleigh28 · June 2016

@elisam511 A lot of people try IUIs a few times first because it's a much less invasive/simpler procedure. This is also why REs typically recommend trying IUIs first, even though IVF has higher success rates no matter what your diagnosis. Certainly there are folks who skip straight to IVF though without trying IUIs first, usually in cases of severe MFI or advanced age. It's completely a personal decision.

@ADRIANAC1982 Yes ICSI is where they inject the sperm into the egg directly, which increases the fertilization rate quite significantly. This is a standard practice for a lot of clinics, but not all. The research study I'm participating in requires it, as well as the biopsy for PGS testing.

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